Bedlam (Realm)
The realm of Bedlam is the result of the catastrophic clashes of black science that caused the Barren Age… and the impact of those wars still lingers after centuries. Your travels may take you into tachyon mists that can distort time before your very eyes, hallucinogenic squalls that can present literally unreal threats, alternate-dimensional bleeds that can drop legendary parallel-reality champions into battle with (or against) you, or ancient necrotech that can reanimate the skeletal remains of long-fallen warriors… with a vengeance! The unpredictable environment can even affect battles. Because of Bedlam’s constantly fluctuating climate, your combatants may have to fight during blinding blizzards of crimson ash, near patches of homicidal vegetation, or in confounding fields of X-ray wavelengths. Or a corrosive enzyme cyclone could suddenly swirl through the middle of an encounter, which may prompt the enemy (or your own crew) to flee or risk molecular degeneration! Temporal anomalies, freak storms, bone soldiers and deadly apparitions? It’s no exaggeration to say that anything can happen in these bizarre lands — Bedlam truly earned its namesake! EVENTS ''' Your path through Bedlam will take you through a series of Faction-controlled territories, and your Dozer traverses through each of these areas by navigating and visiting separate Points of Interest. Arriving at a Point of Interest may lead to a Boomtown — settlements like Gluttonhold and Trudgefoot dotting the charred domain — or you could be sent immediately into battle with the dominant Faction of the territory. But it could also initiate a Random Event, delivered to you via NPCs through the Dozer’s Communications Window. During such Random Events, you might encounter the nomadic Spite Clan, a band of roamers who relentlessly seek retribution for offenses against them. You could come across daring excavators who ventured from Bysantine to search for various pre-Barren Age treasures. Or you may run across slave traders looking to barter for some of your passengers… or try to take them by force! Danger can also appear from within! Along the way, you may learn that one of your passengers has a price on their head and is being pursued by someone else on the Dozer, requiring your intervention. Or a serious equipment malfunction on board could demand your immediate attention. Or you could realize that another passenger may even be trying to sabotage your expedition for some unknown treacherous reasons! You’ll need to carefully consider the options before you react, as your choices can have very different outcomes. If your actions seem reckless or your sacrifices too great, some passengers may decide they would rather abandon the Dozer and risk staying in Bedlam than continue under your leadership… while worse decisions could lead to the loss of precious resources, or even instigate a battle! But choosing wisely could earn valuable information, crew members, experience or rewards! If the Point of Interest where your Dozer arrives happens to be a Special Event, you will see your grand machine approach a unique location in Bedlam. In some of these cases, your interaction and outcome is dependent on specific circumstances. For example, you might discover the wreckage of a crashed alien vessel. With Lasers installed as your Dozer weapon, you could burn through the hull to collect the otherworldly technology found within… or possibly even meet an extraterrestrial survivor willing to accompany you! Or you could find a defunct siege-machine manufacturing facility. An A.I. Elite in your crew would be able to reprogram the equipment and briefly get the assembly line running, which can add several useful A.I. combatants to your crew! You could encounter a “toll” blockade in your path, set up by a large gang of heavily armed Mutant thugs. But if you happen to have an Elite Mutant on board, he could parley and vouch for you, avoiding a potentially punishing combat scenario while also possibly convincing some of the rowdy bruisers to assist on your journey! '''DUNGEON CRAWLS Unlike BEDLAM’s standard battles that usually take place on a single board, “epic dungeon crawls” will differ by encompassing a variety of environments. The challenge is that you are limited to the crew members you initially deploy and your primary Dozer weapon may even be unavailable. SULTAN MONDO’S PALACE OF PARTS! Your travels across Bedlam could lead you into a territory where you learn that local inhabitants with cybernetic enhancements are constantly disappearing. All signs point to the nefarious Cyborg Sultan Mondo, who traffics in the secondary market of cybernetic parts. According to rumor, Mondo sends his menacing henchmen into the wasteland to apprehend anyone with biomachinery augmentations, bringing them to his secret “chop-shop” for unwilling removal and resale. The territory residents want you to put his dastardly operation to an end… for a handsome prize, of course! An immense Cyborg of supragenius intellect and heinous intent, Sultan Mondo maneuvers his prodigious bulk on a floating weaponized platform. He is always surrounded by his three lovely Cyborg Brides, who also act as his lethal bodyguards. Upon locating Mondo’s clandestine base out in the Decimation Dunes, your crew will first enter his marketplace and transplant clinic where they will face some of Mondo’s rugged security enforcers, along with bodmod surgeons wielding white-hot soldering torches and whirling meat saws. The pursuit of Mondo himself will lead your crew behind the scenes of his grisly business, past the dismantling conveyors and into the detritus room and incinerator pits. Eventually they will fight their way to his subterranean palace and personal chambers, where your surviving crew will have to deal with his private guards before finally engaging Mondo and his trio of badass brides! It certainly won’t be an easy battle, but victory will yield impressive rewards like unique Cyborg-specific Dozer Upgrades, battlefield Equalizers, and recruiting Sultan Mondo’s three deadly brides into your crew. Plus you’ll receive the enthusiastic appreciation of the territory’s citizens… and a heap of valuable resources! PRESTO CHANGE-O On occasion, Alchemists can be found in the wasteland performing mad experiments with unnatural methods. Using archaic (but often effective) black sciences, these practitioners of transmogrification are able to convert various substances into other useful materials. But they tend to be reviled due to their association with the esoteric and unstable processes that contributed to the Barren Age and created the chaotic land of Bedlam so long ago. If you locate an Alchemist during your journey and decide to allow them on board the Dozer (by installing the Alchemist Laboratory Dozer Upgrade), this could allow you to replenish a dwindling or depleted resource by altering your other valuable commodities — including passengers! However, be warned that utilizing this unpopular matter-manipulator could cause resentment among your passengers and crew. So you will have to heavily weigh your resource desperation against satisfying the brave souls on your Dozer! KING VISCERA ''' The massive and merciless tormenter who proclaims himself the overlord of Bedlam, King Viscera is known mostly for his fearsome blood-streaked armor and complete lack of compunction. Though he rarely handles matters personally, he dispatches his infamous (and particularly vicious) patrols to eliminate his competition, harass the denizens of independent Boomtowns, and generally disrupt any semblance of peace. All the while, he scours the blackened sands of Bedlam for valuable artifacts to help him gain the dominating power he seeks. During your journey through Bedlam, you will become keenly aware of King Viscera’s notoriety. And there’s a very good chance you will encounter his scouting parties, because despite the expanse of Bedlam, it would be all but impossible to hide your rolling fortress from his attention… and it’s just the kind of thing he would desire. But will you also have the opportunity (or misfortune) to actually face him? Even the mighty Dozer may not provide protection if you cross his path or draw his wrath! '''BOSS BATTLES This feature is still under development Category:Bedlam